ISAS Field Notes

Remembering John A. Walthall

betzen@illinois.edu (Alleen Betzenhauser) — Thu, 12 Feb 2026 11:00:00 CST

Much as the forces of water, wind, and time have shaped the bedrock of Illinois, John Walthall quietly and indelibly shaped the archaeology of the state and beyond.

Conducting a magnetometry survey at Lincoln's New Salem State Historic Site

bskousen@illinois.edu (Jacob Skousen) — Thu, 11 Sep 2025 10:45:00 CDT

ISAS archaeologists used magnetometry to survey the Late Woodland Sitzman site at Lincoln’s New Salem, confirming the ancient mounds remain largely intact. Findings will help reroute trails and preserve this rare Native American heritage site.

ISAS Continues to Strengthen Ties with Brooklyn, Illinois

mesmith4@illinois.edu (Michael Smith) — Mon, 02 Dec 2024 08:00:00 CST

Brooklyn, Illinois, was established in the 1830s along the Mississippi River as a settlement for African Americans, both free individuals and those escaping slavery. The village played a significant role as a stop on the Underground Railroad.

ISAS supports Arthur Johnson Foundation’s mission of ‘hope, vision, and positive direction.’

ebensn@illinois.edu (Erin Benson) — Fri, 15 Mar 2024 14:15:00 CDT

The Illinois State Archaeological Survey recently assisted with an archaeological survey for the new Arthur Johnson Foundation Center in East St. Louis, Illinois. The Foundation’s mission is to “give hope, vision and positive direction to our youth through the medium of athletics” and to rebuild inner-city communities by inspiring youth and assisting families experiencing crises.

Ed Duling arrowhead collection donation

tjolley2@illinois.edu (Tiffany Jolley) — Tue, 10 Oct 2023 13:30:00 CDT

Ed Duling's lifelong passion for collecting Native American artifacts has found a lasting legacy at the Illinois State Archaeological Survey (ISAS). His collection, painstakingly gathered over decades, is more than a mere assortment of arrowheads; it’s a testament to the rich tapestry of our heritage. Inspired by his unwavering dedication, his family, Sheryl Ketner and Noelle Walton, made a heartfelt decision – to contact ISAS to preserve their father's legacy and share it with the world.

ISAS collaborates with landowners in Whiteside County to document pre-contact village site

tjolley2@illinois.edu (John M. Lambert) — Wed, 02 Aug 2023 08:00:00 CDT

The Illinois State Archaeological Survey (ISAS) recently collaborated with landowners in northwest Illinois to investigate a pre-contact village and associated mound using non-invasive geophysical survey. Originally recorded in 1961 as a Late Woodland site, a brief revisit to the McKeown site in 1974 showed that the site actually dates to the Upper Mississippian Langford Phase and contains not only a mound, but intact house pits and other features.

George Johnson donation: projectile points with a lasting impact

tjolley2@illinois.edu (Clare Tolmie) — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 08:30:00 CST

Our Northern Illinois Field Station (NIFS) recently had a friendly visit from a familiar face – George Johnson! Johnson, who donated an important projectile points collection to ISAS many years ago, stopped by to donate more artifacts to his collection. Johnson's donated collection is a major hotspot on the projectile points database.

Climate change threatens to erode Illinois' archaeological record

tjolley2@illinois.edu (John M. Lambert) — Mon, 12 Dec 2022 09:15:00 CST

Large swaths of the state—areas where the soil is easily eroded, where farm field slopes are particularly steep, and where there are many cultural sites of historic significance—are poised to suffer significant impacts in the coming decades. And with every fraction of an inch that washes downstream, the farmer’s plow goes a little deeper each year.

Counting on the future to save the past

tjolley2@illinois.edu (Tamira Brennan and Tiffany Jolley) — Tue, 11 Oct 2022 08:00:00 CDT

When one thinks of excavations taking place in the blazing summer sun, most people don’t realize how much discovery occurs in the cool, dark collections spaces that curators like Tamira Brennan, section head of curation at the Illinois State Archaeological Survey (ISAS) and her colleagues care for.

FPCC groups learn more about Cook County archaeology

tjolley2@illinois.edu (Paula Bryant) — Wed, 17 Aug 2022 08:00:00 CDT

ISAS staff recently conducted four days of training and outreach activities to introduce several Forest Preserves of Cook County (FPCC) resource management groups to the archaeological history of the Cook County Forest Preserves.

The past feeds the present

tjolley2@illinois.edu (David Nolan and Susan T. Nolan) — Mon, 15 Aug 2022 08:00:00 CDT

The WIFS Macomb Fieldstation is currently home to the ISAS flotation laboratory, where flotation samples from projects across the state are processed. Leftover sediments have been repurposed in the on-site staff vegetable garden, once again enriching the local soils for a new food crop.

Jacksonville lab tour

tjolley2@illinois.edu (James Pisell) — Wed, 03 Aug 2022 13:00:00 CDT

Members of the Illinois College summer student scholarship cohort met with staff from the Illinois State Archaeological Survey (ISAS) at the Western Illinois Field Station in Jacksonville, Illinois. Staff members John Alexander Schone Scobbie, an archaeological specialist, Erin Hughes, research archaeologist, and James Pisell, staff archaeologist, shared an overview of the mission and services of the ISAS and led a behind-the-scenes site tour.

2022 Field School uncovers pre-contact 14th century village

tjolley2@illinois.edu (Tamira Brennan) — Fri, 22 Jul 2022 13:30:00 CDT

Dr. Tamira Brennan, section head of curation at the Illinois State Archaeological Survey, recently completed a six-week archaeological field school in southeast Missouri. Hosted by the Institute for Field Research (IFR) in partnership with Southeast Missouri State University (SEMO), Field School students travel from all over the U.S. to participate in hands-on research.

Agricultural activity threatens Indigenous history in both Belize and Illinois

pauketat@illinois.edu (State Archaeologist Tim Pauketat) — Thu, 07 Jul 2022 08:00:00 CDT

State Archaeologist Tim Pauketat reflects on a recent blog post from his colleague Dr. Lisa Lucero, which shows that Belize and Illinois share an unfortunate problem: agriculture puts Indigenous artifacts and history at risk.

Trained eye IDs animal bones

tjolley2@illinois.edu (Tiffany Jolley) — Tue, 03 May 2022 08:00:00 CDT

Earlier this year, ISAS received some photos the submitter believed were from a bison. The bones in all of these photos are actually from a horse. Steve Kuehn, an ISAS zooarchaeologist, notes two elements show distinct traits that separate horses from bison and cattle.

Identifying artifacts at Prairie Fruits Farm & Creamery

mesmith4@illinois.edu (Mike Smith) — Mon, 24 Jan 2022 08:00:00 CST

ISAS volunteers Mike Smith and Madeline Evans were able to visit Prairie Fruits Farm & Creamery in Champaign this past December to assist the owners in identifying a collection of artifacts that came into their possession as they expanded their farm operation.

ISAS staff help Forest Preserve District of DuPage County

tlbarker@illinois.edu (Tricia Barker) — Mon, 29 Nov 2021 14:30:00 CST

A few months ago, a visitor found an interesting stone at Blackwell Forest Preserve in Warrenville. They took pictures and alerted Forest Preserve District staff, who reached out to the Illinois State Archaeological Survey for their perspective.

A glimpse of an antebellum tavern on the Mississippi River

tlbarker@illinois.edu (Robert Mazrim) — Mon, 22 Nov 2021 10:00:00 CST

In 2019, the Illinois State Archaeological Survey encountered a pre-1850 historic site on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River as part of a bridge replacement project conducted by the Illinois Department of Transportation. Wedged between a gas pipeline and a modern highway right-of-way was a remarkably well-preserved footprint of an early 19th century structure, and as well as a rich deposit of material culture associated with what turned out to be tavern-keeping.

What we don’t know about Illinois archaeology

lambertj@illinois.edu (John M. Lambert) — Mon, 25 Oct 2021 12:00:00 CDT

Despite more than 100 years of archaeological research in Illinois, large parts of the state have received very little professional survey. Almost one third of townships in Illinois have less than 1% of their area surveyed! By and large, places with high populations, a lot of modern development, more road building, or proximity to universities have received more attention from archaeologists.

Clinton County finds

pauketat@illinois.edu (Illinois State Archaeologist Tim Pauketat) — Wed, 06 Oct 2021 15:15:00 CDT

Two archaeology enthusiasts in Clinton County have collected dozens of clay-fired objects, which archaeologists believe were used to cook food in southern Illinois approximately 2,000 years ago.

'Citizen archaeologists' contribute to DeWulf project

tlbarker@illinois.edu (Tricia Barker) — Thu, 05 Aug 2021 11:45:00 CDT

Volunteers, including students from Knox College, pitched in to help ISAS staff with a project at the DeWulf site, a Paleoindian site that dates back about 9,500 years.

Curating a new curriculum

tjolley2@illinois.edu (Tamira Brennan) — Mon, 02 Aug 2021 08:00:00 CDT

For many students, field school is synonymous with adventure and immersive experiences. These courses typically offer intensive, hands-on learning that exposes participants to the work environment they might find themselves in post-degree while offering training in the basic skills needed to succeed there. For some, field school is a way to test the waters before fully committing to a particular career, while for others, it is simply an interesting alternative to classroom learning.

IFR field school students on a field trip to Kincaid Mounds in southern Illinois.

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Traditional field schools are taught outdoors where the “learning material” is found, such as an archaeological site, geologic formation, or species habitat. But Tamira Brennan, the Illinois State Archaeological Survey (ISAS) section head of curation, saw a unique opportunity to teach a traditional, lab-based class on archaeological curation following the field school model.

Brennan proposed a field school in archaeological curation to the Institute for Field Archaeology (IFR), a not-for-profit devoted to providing high-quality, research-based field experiences to students from all over the world. Following the Society for American Archaeology’s urgent call for a curation curriculum, the IFR eagerly agreed to offer the first North American field school in curation this summer by partnering with Brennan, ISAS, and the Center for Archaeological Investigations (CAI) at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, where the work will take place.

IFR students cataloging and labeling artifacts.

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Students spend four weeks working with collections of artifacts spanning the Paleoindian to early historic periods collected throughout southern Illinois in the mid-20^th century. They complete the essential work of stabilizing and recording these artifacts to make them accessible to interested Native American tribes, researchers, and students. In the process, they learn to identify and care for various types of archaeological materials and documents, work with relational databases, discuss the ethics involved in every stage of collections, and visit some of the archaeological sites where these collections came from, as well as touring other institution’s collections.

IFR students cataloging and labeling artifacts.

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The long-term goal in teaching curation is to expose students to the needs and opportunities that archaeology offers post-excavation while completing much-needed work on some of Illinois’ earliest and most important collections.

Commemorating Freedom Village

tjolley2@illinois.edu (Tim Pauketat and Elizabeth Watts Malouchos) — Mon, 26 Jul 2021 08:00:00 CDT

Earlier this month, ISAS staff took part in the Historical Society of Brooklyn’s commemoration of Mother Priscilla Baltimore, a former enslaved person who in 1829 founded the first free Black town in Illinois—Brooklyn, formerly known as Freedom Village. Illinois State Archaeologist Tim Pauketat, collaborative research liaison Elizabeth Watts Malouchos, and graphic design manager Mera Hertel joined community organizer Roberta Rogers and members of the Historical Society of Brooklyn, as well as archaeologists Miranda Yancey, Joe Galloy, and Jeff Kruchten, at Mother Baltimore’s gravesite in the historic Bellefontaine Cemetery in St. Louis and the Quinn Chapel in Brooklyn, featuring a new monument to honor the pre-Civil War abolitionist and the city’s founder.

In 2008, ISAS archaeologists worked with Quinn Chapel Elder George McShan, community organizer Roberta Rogers, and other citizens of Brooklyn, Illinois, to locate the archaeological remains of Mother Baltimore’s original homesite in Brooklyn and to preserve the historic landscape of the city. Besides being the first free Black town in the state, Freedom Village also served as a key link in the Underground Railroad by which formerly enslaved people made their way north to freedom before the Civil War. A 2014 ISAS excavation video delved more into this history:

Today, Yancey and Galloy are working with the Historical Society of Brooklyn to complete a district nomination of the historic town to the National Register of Historic Places.

Learn more about Mother Baltimore and this event below.

A word about dating

tjolley2@illinois.edu (Mike Smith) — Mon, 19 Jul 2021 08:00:00 CDT

You may have noticed historians or archaeologists using abbreviations like B.C.E. to discuss something that happened thousands of years ago. But what is the difference between A.D. and C.E., or B.C. and B.C.E.? Do they mean the same thing, and, if so, which do archaeologists tend to use?

The widely used Gregorian calendar is based on the estimated birth date of Jesus Christ. Subsequent years count up from this event and are accompanied by either A.D. or C.E., while the preceding years count down from it and are accompanied by either B.C. or B.C.E. The date 2,000 B.C. means 2,000 years before the birth of Jesus. In 2020, that date would have been 4,020 years ago! This is the way many people in Europe and the Americas have traditionally kept track of years.

Archaeologists often decide to annotate dates using B.C.E. (before common era) and C.E. (common era) rather than B.C. (before Christ) and A.D. (Anno Domini). B.C.E. and C.E. dates are essentially identical to B.C. and A.D., however, many archaeologists feel that the former are preferable for two reasons: first, B.C. and A.D. suggest a eurocentric world view that is not necessarily appropriate when discussing cultures that existed in North America almost 10,000 years prior to European contact; second, there is some confusion over the actual birth date of Jesus, with most experts placing the birth between 7 and 4 years before the year 1. The designations B.C.E. and C.E. don’t rely on any particular event in history, instead, they consider the year 1 to simply be the year that has traditionally been designated as 1.

The use of B.P. (before present) is also fairly standard in the dating of prehistoric events that span a significant length of time. This annotation can be confusing when referencing more recent dates because the present changes every year (B.P. has to be constantly updated) and referring to the year 1865 as 156 B.P. would probably not help to explain events related to historic period archaeology.

What do different date abbreviations mean?

A.D. (Anno Domini, year of the Lord) and B.C. (before Christ) have long been used by scholars in Europe and the Americas; their reference point is the birth of Christ.

C.E. (current era) and B.C.E. (before current era) are sometimes used instead of A.D. and B.C. as a way to express a date without specifically referencing a Eurocentric worldview. But the dates themselves are the same as dates expressed as A.D. or B.C. For example, 1865 C.E. is the same year as A.D. 1865, and 2000 B.C.E. is the same year as 2000 B.C.

B.P. (before the present) is the number of years before the present.

Plow scars and omarolluks

mesmith@illinois.edu (Mike Smith and Tom Loebel) — Tue, 18 May 2021 08:00:00 CDT

Have you ever picked up a rock that just seemed to fit in your hand? Archaeologists are often asked about interesting things found by the public that may not be cultural artifacts. While we typically study artifacts, features, and landscapes that were intentionally altered by humans we also don’t mind answering questions about the naturally occurring items that people often come across in the Midwest. Here are a couple eye-catching examples we are commonly asked about:

Plow-Scarred Rocks

Many stones found in Illinois farm fields have been struck repeatedly by metal plow blades. Over time the scars left by farm machinery can form random crisscross patterns. While plow-scarred rocks are unintentionally caused by humans, they were not made by the original indigenous inhabitants of Illinois.

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Omarolluks

Omarolluks are naturally occurring sedimentary rocks, with round features, or holes, that are usually between a half-inch and three inches in diameter. The holes are caused by water eroding away softer material embedded in the rock over tens of thousands of years. Omarolluks aren’t common but they were scattered over many parts of Illinois by glaciers during the last Ice Age. Geological finds like Omarolluks and other oddly shaped rocks caused by differential erosion are often misidentified as Native American artifacts.

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